


Sincerest Form of Flattery

by MegaWallflower



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Genre: Episode Related, Fanboying, Hero Worship, M/M, Random & Short, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: Houki and Metal gush about the chances they got to fight Kakashi and Guy.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Metal Lee & Taketori Houki
Comments: 8
Kudos: 71
Collections: KakaGai Week 2019 entries





	Sincerest Form of Flattery

“Metal! I heard you got your butt kicked by Might Guy!” Houki gushed, his eye practically sparkling as he leaned into Metal’s space, right in his face. “Congrats!”

Metal took a step back and stared at him for a moment, searched Houki’s face and his voice for traces of sarcasm or mockery. When he found none, he nodded. Houki was excitable and a little pushy at times, but he wasn’t mean. “Thank… you?”

Metal was babysat by Guy fairly often, and Kakashi was almost always by Guy’s side when he could be, so Metal was confident in his skill to read facial expressions from a single eye. That crinkle was a smile that was almost a giggle. At the very least, it definitely wasn’t a smirk. Houki fixed Metal with an inquisitive stare as his head tilted curiously. “So…”

Metal curiously tilted his head the same way in mimicked inquiry. “So…?”

“So, how did it feel to fight your hero?” Houki squealed, speaking quickly and bouncing up and down, which quickly turned into a giddy hop in place.

Metal grabbed Houki by the shoulders and made him stand still. “Um, it… wasn’t much of a fight. Guy-sensei is still really strong. I didn’t manage to land a single solid hit on him before he threw Iwabe at me and we hit the wall.”

“He _threw_ Iwabe at you?!” His mouth probably swung open in a wide gape, although shock quickly turned back to elation, and gaping turned to giggling and clapping. “Wow! He threw Iwabe at you! I guess they don’t call him Lord Sixth’s rival for nothing…! That’s…! Wow!”

Metal knew that Houki wasn’t exactly laughing _at_ him, but the fit of laughter was enough to make Metal indignantly puff out his cheeks in a pout, anyway.

“Aren’t you happy you lost, though?” Houki asked suddenly.

Metal blinked and blew the air out of his cheeks with a confused, “What?”

Houki finally, gradually stopped laughing and looked up at Metal with his bright, giddy smile still showing in his eye. “At our graduation exam, meeting Lord Sixth in person was the coolest! And then, getting our butts kicked! Seeing him push back every single thing we threw at him! It was the best proof in the world that Lord Sixth is even greater than I thought he was! I got to experience the difference in power for myself! And he wasn’t even going all out! He was so cool! I got to experience his purple lightning up close!” He explained. “You get it now, too, right? You got to experience your Guy-sensei’s taijutsu for yourself!”

“Huh. That’s…” Metal thought it over. “…I _was_ really amazed when he beat me and Iwabe so fast. It really made me think… ‘Guy-sensei is amazing after all, just like I thought.’”

“—Right? There’s something about getting to see a living legend being a legend in person!” When he put it that way, Metal supposed he could relate to Houki’s giddiness. “So, congratulations!”

“Thanks, Houki. I’m a little late, but, congrats to you too, for getting to…” Metal tried to choose his words carefully. “Lose to Kakashi-sensei?”

Houki grinned and nodded. “Thanks! We have to train harder! One day, we should tag team both Lord Sixth and Might Guy at the same time! It’ll be so awesome to lose against Lord Sixth’s famous rival combo! I want to see it with my own eyes!”

“Ah…” Metal grew pensive again. “I’ve seen Kakashi-sensei and Guy-sensei fight together. I’m not ready to be on the other side of _that_ yet. Papa says that they’re soft around each other, but in a fight, they’re lethal. And he’s definitely not wrong.”

“Doesn’t that just get you even more excited?! Lord Sixth’s lethal tag team attack!” Houki balled his hands into fists and turned to Metal with a smile full of excitement. He clearly believed they could do anything together. “Don’t you want to see it, too?”

“I-I guess?” Metal lied. Metal and Houki were more-or-less playing rivals, but those two were war-forged, fire-forged, kage-level jonin. Metal really preferred being on their side instead of standing opposite them. Besides, after all the times Kakashi and Guy had babysat him together, Metal was used to being on their team. Or at least, being on one of their teams while they teamed up against the other in a challenge.

Metal chuckled to himself. Before Houki could ask what he was thinking about, Metal changed the subject, “You know, right when I needed him most, Guy-sensei appeared out of nowhere, jumping from the sky. I was so surprised! He gave me advice and praised me when I figured out what to do, even though I needed a push in the right direction from Guy-sensei first. It made me feel like… ‘Wow! I really can do it! And Guy-sensei really wants to watch me do it! He really believes in me, too!’ …You know what I mean? I think that’s the part that made me happiest. My hero really wants me to grow up and become as strong and legendary as him.”

“Ah! Kakashi jumped out of the sky from nowhere for me too! Right after my mission, he appeared and he praised me and my team on a job well done! I was so nervous reporting to him after we’d taken care of those last bombs! That made me so happy! Hearing from Lord Sixth himself that my team had done a good job, and knowing that he saw us in action at our best…! I felt like I was putting my best foot forward. It felt even better than getting electrocuted by his purple lightning!”

It was a little concerning that Houki still considered it comparable, and it was very concerning that Metal secretly agreed with the sentiment and hoped to fight Guy-sensei himself again someday, too. “Well, I’d hope so…” Metal just chuckled awkwardly as Houki continued to gush about the original eternal rivals.


End file.
